The gens Antonia was a
Roman family of great antiquity, with both
patrician and
plebeian branches. The first of the
gens
In ancient Rome, a gens ( or , ; : gentes ) was a family consisting of individuals who shared the same ''nomen gentilicium'' and who claimed descent from a common ancestor. A branch of a gens, sometimes identified by a distinct cognomen, was cal ...
to achieve prominence was
Titus Antonius Merenda, one of the second group of
Decemviri called, in 450 BC, to help draft what became the
Law of the Twelve Tables
The Laws of the Twelve Tables () was the legislation that stood at the foundation of Roman law. Formally promulgated in 449 BC, the Tables consolidated earlier traditions into an enduring set of laws.Crawford, M.H. 'Twelve Tables' in Simon Hornbl ...
. The most prominent member of the gens was
Marcus Antonius.
[''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'', vol. I, p. 210 (" Antonia Gens").]
Origin
Marcus Antonius, the
triumvir, claimed that his gens was descended from Anton, a son of
Heracles
Heracles ( ; ), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a Divinity, divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of ZeusApollodorus1.9.16/ref> and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptive descent through ...
.
[Plutarch]
"The Life of Marcus Antonius"
36, 60. According to ancient traditions the ''Antonii'' were
Heracleidae
The Heracleidae (; ) or Heraclids were the numerous descendants of Heracles, especially applied in a narrower sense to the descendants of Hyllus, the eldest of his four sons by Deianira (Hyllus was also sometimes thought of as Heracles' son ...
and because of that Marcus Antonius harnessed lions to his chariot to commemorate his descent from Heracles, and many of his coins bore a lion for the same reason.
Praenomina
The patrician Antonii used the
praenomina
The praenomen (; plural: praenomina) was a first name chosen by the parents of a Ancient Rome, Roman child. It was first bestowed on the ''dies lustricus'' (day of lustration), the eighth day after the birth of a girl, or the ninth day after the ...
''
Titus'' and ''
Quintus''. ''Titus'' does not appear to have been used by the plebeian Antonii, who instead used ''Quintus,
Marcus,
Lucius'', and ''
Gaius''. There are also a few instances of ''
Aulus'', while Marcus Antonius the triumvir named one of his sons ''Iulus''. This name, also borne by a later descendant of the triumvir, may have been an ancient praenomen revived by the family, but it was probably also intended to call to mind the connections of his family with the illustrious ''
gens Julia''.
Branches and cognomina
The patrician Antonii bear the
cognomen
A ''cognomen'' (; : ''cognomina''; from ''co-'' "together with" and ''(g)nomen'' "name") was the third name of a citizen of ancient Rome, under Roman naming conventions. Initially, it was a nickname, but lost that purpose when it became hereditar ...
''Merenda''; the plebeian Antonii bear no surname under the Republic, with the exception of Quintus Antonius,
propraetor in
Sardinia in the time of
Sulla
Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix (, ; 138–78 BC), commonly known as Sulla, was a Roman people, Roman general and statesman of the late Roman Republic. A great commander and ruthless politician, Sulla used violence to advance his career and his co ...
, who is called ''Balbus'' on coins.
Members
*
Titus Antonius Merenda,
Decemvir in 450 BC, defeated by the
Aequi on
Mount Algidus.
['' Fasti Capitolini'' ; 1904, 114.]
*
Quintus Antonius T. f. Merenda,
consular tribune in 422 BC.
*
Marcus Antonius,
magister equitum in 333 BC.
* Lucius Antonius, expelled from the
Senate by the
censors in 307 BC for divorcing his wife.
* Quintus Antonius, one of the officers in the fleet under the praetor
Lucius Aemilius Regillus, in the war with
Antiochus the Great, in 190 BC.
* Aulus Antonius, sent by the
consul
Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states thro ...
Lucius Aemilius Paullus, with two others to
Perseus, after the defeat of the latter, in 168 BC.
* Marcus Antonius,
tribune of the plebs
Tribune of the plebs, tribune of the people or plebeian tribune () was the first office of the Roman Republic, Roman state that was open to the plebs, plebeians, and was, throughout the history of the Republic, the most important check on the pow ...
in 167 BC, opposed the bill introduced by the praetor Marcus Juventius Thalna for declaring war against the Rhodians.
* Lucius Antonius, defended by
Cato the Elder .
* Gaius Antonius, 2nd-century BC moneyer, was for many years incorrectly assumed to have been the father of the orator and consul of 99 BC.
* Marcus Antonius M. f., father of Marcus Antonius the orator, may have been the son of Marcus Antonius, tribune of the plebs in 167 BC.
*
Marcus Antonius M. f. M. n., the orator,
praetor
''Praetor'' ( , ), also ''pretor'', was the title granted by the government of ancient Rome to a man acting in one of two official capacities: (i) the commander of an army, and (ii) as an elected ''magistratus'' (magistrate), assigned to disch ...
in 104 BC, consul in 99 BC, censor in 97 BC, put to death by
Gaius Marius and
Lucius Cornelius Cinna in 87 BC.
* Quintus Antonius Balbus, praetor in
Sardinia in 82 BC, killed by
Lucius Marcius Philippus, the
legate of
Sulla
Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix (, ; 138–78 BC), commonly known as Sulla, was a Roman people, Roman general and statesman of the late Roman Republic. A great commander and ruthless politician, Sulla used violence to advance his career and his co ...
.
* Marcus Antonius, a proscribed senator who fled to
Sertorius in
Hispania
Hispania was the Ancient Rome, Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula. Under the Roman Republic, Hispania was divided into two Roman province, provinces: Hispania Citerior and Hispania Ulterior. During the Principate, Hispania Ulterior was divide ...
during
his revolt, and later conspired in his assassination in 73 BC.
*
Marcus Antonius Gnipho, a distinguished rhetorician and tutor of
Caesar.
*
Marcus Antonius M. f. M. n., surnamed ''Creticus'', praetor in 75 BC.
*
Gaius Antonius M. f. M. n., surnamed ''Hybrida'', consul in 63 BC.
*
Antonia M. f. M. n., the daughter of Marcus Antonius the orator, was captured by pirates, and ransomed.
*
Antonia M. f. M. n., wife of
Publius Vatinius.
*
Marcus Antonius M. f. M. n., the
triumvir, was ''magister equitum'' in 47 and consul in 44 BC.
*
Gaius Antonius M. f. M. n., praetor in 44 BC, was put to death by
Brutus in 42.
*
Lucius Antonius M. f. M. n., surnamed ''Pietas'', consul in 41 BC.
* Antonia C. f. M. n. Hybrida Major, married
Lucius Caninius Gallus.
* Antonia C. f. M. n. Hybrida Minor, married her cousin, Marcus Antonius, the triumvir, but was divorced from him in 47 B.C.
*
Antonia M. f. M. n., daughter of the triumvir, who was betrothed to
Marcus Aemilius Lepidus the younger.
*
Marcus Antonius M. f. M. n., called ''Antyllus'' by the Greek writers, put to death by
Augustus in 30 BC.
*
Iulus Antonius M. f. M. n., consul in 10 BC, condemned to death by Augustus in 2 BC.
*
Antonia M. f. M. n. Major, the wife of
Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, was grandmother of the empress
Messalina and the emperor
Nero
Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68) was a Roman emperor and the final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 until his ...
.
*
Antonia M. f. M. n. Minor, the wife of
Nero Claudius Drusus, was mother of the emperor
Claudius
Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; ; 1 August 10 BC – 13 October AD 54), or Claudius, was a Roman emperor, ruling from AD 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Claudius was born to Nero Claudius Drusus, Drusus and Ant ...
, and grandmother of
Caligula.
*
Antonius Musa, a physician at the time of
Augustus, and author of works on medicine and medicinal plants.
*
Lucius Antonius Iuli f. M. n., exiled to
Massilia in 2 BC.
*
Iula Antonia Iuli f. M. n., daughter Iulus Antonius, the consul of 10 BC.
* Lucius Antonius Pedo, an eques who was ''praefectus'' of
Roman Egypt
Roman Egypt was an imperial province of the Roman Empire from 30 BC to AD 642. The province encompassed most of modern-day Egypt except for the Sinai. It was bordered by the provinces of Crete and Cyrenaica to the west and Judaea, ...
around AD 11.
*
Antonia Tryphaena, Queen of Thrace, and a granddaughter of Marcus Antonius, the triumvir.
*
Antonius Atticus, a Roman rhetorician of the first century; he was contemporary with both
Seneca and
Quintilian
Marcus Fabius Quintilianus (; 35 – 100 AD) was a Roman educator and rhetorician born in Hispania, widely referred to in medieval schools of rhetoric and in Renaissance writing. In English translation, he is usually referred to as Quin ...
.
* Aulus Antonius Rufus, consul ''suffectus'' in AD 45
*
Marcus Antonius Felix, a
freedman of the emperor Claudius, later
procurator of
Judaea.
*
Marcus Antonius Pallas, a freedman, brother to Marcus Antonius Felix. Secretary first to Claudius, and then to Nero, who had him executed in AD 63.
* Antonia, wife of a Livius, perhaps a senator.
*
Antonius Natalis, one of the
conspirators of
Gaius Calpurnius Piso against Nero.
*
Marcus Antonius Julianus, procurator of Judaea from AD 66 to 70.
*
Lucius Antonius Naso, tribune of the
Praetorian Guard in AD 69, and procurator of
Bithynia in the reign of
Vespasian
Vespasian (; ; 17 November AD 9 – 23 June 79) was Roman emperor from 69 to 79. The last emperor to reign in the Year of the Four Emperors, he founded the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Empire for 27 years. His fiscal reforms and consolida ...
.
[Tacitus, ''Historiae'', i. 20.]
*
Antonius Flamma, governor of
Cyrenaica under Nero, banished at the beginning of Vespasian's reign for his extortion and cruelty.
*
Antonius Novellus, one of
Otho's principal generals, but possessed no influence with the soldiery.
*
Antonius Castor, a botanist at Rome during the first century, who lived more than a hundred years.
*
Antonius Rufus, a Latin grammarian, and perhaps also a playwright, in the time of Quintilian.
*Antonius, a Roman of high rank, and a contemporary and friend of
Pliny the Younger, among whose letters there are three addressed to Antoninus. Pliny heaps the most extravagant praise upon his friend both for his personal character and his skill in composing Greek epigrams and iambics.
*
Marcus Antonius L. f. Iuli n., the principal general of
Vespasian
Vespasian (; ; 17 November AD 9 – 23 June 79) was Roman emperor from 69 to 79. The last emperor to reign in the Year of the Four Emperors, he founded the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Empire for 27 years. His fiscal reforms and consolida ...
, and consul in AD 69.
* Marcus Antonius Primus, Camillus with the arvals in 118.
* Antonius Taurus, a tribune in the Praetorian Guard in AD 69.
* Marcus Antonius M. f. Agrippa, son of Marcus Antonius Felix, the procurator of Judaea, died in the eruption of
Mount Vesuvius in AD 79.
* Antonia M. f. Clementiana, daughter of Marcus Antonius Felix.
*
Lucius Antonius Saturninus, governor of
Germania Superior
Germania Superior ("Upper Germania") was an imperial province of the Roman Empire. It comprised an area of today's western Switzerland, the French Jura and Alsace regions, and southwestern Germany. Important cities were Besançon ('' Vesont ...
, rebelled against the emperor
Domitian in AD 91.
* Lucius Antonius Albus, consul in AD 102.
* Marcus Antonius Rufinus, consul in AD 131.
*
Lucius Antonius L. f. Albus, consul ''suffectus'' around AD 132.
*
Marcus Antonius Hiberus, consul ''ordinarius'' in 133.
*
Antonius Diogenes, author of a Greek romance, who may have lived in the second century.
*
Antonius, a notable herbalist mentioned by
Galen
Aelius Galenus or Claudius Galenus (; September 129 – AD), often Anglicization, anglicized as Galen () or Galen of Pergamon, was a Ancient Rome, Roman and Greeks, Greek physician, surgeon, and Philosophy, philosopher. Considered to be one o ...
, probably dated to the second century, but perhaps the same person as Antonius Castor.
* Antonius Julianus, a friend and contemporary of
Aulus Gellius, and a teacher of grammar and oratory.
*
Marcus Antonius Polemon, a celebrated sophist and rhetorician who flourished under
Trajan
Trajan ( ; born Marcus Ulpius Traianus, 18 September 53) was a Roman emperor from AD 98 to 117, remembered as the second of the Five Good Emperors of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty. He was a philanthropic ruler and a successful soldier ...
,
Hadrian
Hadrian ( ; ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. Hadrian was born in Italica, close to modern Seville in Spain, an Italic peoples, Italic settlement in Hispania Baetica; his branch of the Aelia gens, Aelia '' ...
, and
Antoninus Pius
Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Pius (; ; 19 September 86 – 7 March 161) was Roman emperor from AD 138 to 161. He was the fourth of the Five Good Emperors from the Nerva–Antonine dynasty.
Born into a senatorial family, Antoninus held var ...
.
*
Julius Antonius Seleucus, governor of Moesia in the early 3rd century. Possibly the same figure as the contemporary
usurper Seleucus, who revolted against
Elagabalus. Other sources identify him with the consul Marcus Flavius Vitellius Seleucus.
* Marcus Antonius Sabinus,
equestrian governor of
Mauretania Caesariensis AD 215–217.
*
Marcus Antonius Gordianus I, surnamed ''Africanus'', emperor in AD 238.
*
Marcus Antonius M. f. Gordianus II, emperor with his father in AD 238.
*
Antonia M. f. Gordiana, daughter of the emperor
Gordianus I, and mother of
Gordianus III.
*
Marcus Antonius Gordianus III, grandson of Gordianus I, and emperor from AD 238 to 244.
*
Claudius Antonius, consul in AD 382.
*
Rufius Antonius Agrypnius Volusianus,
proconsul
A proconsul was an official of ancient Rome who acted on behalf of a Roman consul, consul. A proconsul was typically a former consul. The term is also used in recent history for officials with delegated authority.
In the Roman Republic, military ...
of
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...
,
praefectus urbi from AD 417 to 418, and
praetorian prefect of Italy.
See also
*
List of Roman gentes
*
Nerva-Antonine dynasty
References
Citations
Bibliography
*
Marcus Tullius Cicero, ''
Epistulae ad Atticum'', ''
Philippicae''.
*
Dionysius of Halicarnassus, ''Romaike Archaiologia'' (Roman Antiquities).
* Titus Livius (
Livy), ''
History of Rome''.
*
Valerius Maximus, ''Factorum ac Dictorum Memorabilium'' (Memorable Facts and Sayings).
* Lucius Annaeus Seneca (
Seneca the Elder), ''Suasoriae'' (Rhetorical Exercises).
* Gaius Plinius Secundus (
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/24 79), known in English as Pliny the Elder ( ), was a Roman Empire, Roman author, Natural history, naturalist, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the Roman emperor, emperor Vesp ...
), ''
Historia Naturalis'' (Natural History).
* Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus (
Pliny the Younger), ''
Epistulae'' (Letters).
* Marcus Fabius Quintilianus (
Quintilian
Marcus Fabius Quintilianus (; 35 – 100 AD) was a Roman educator and rhetorician born in Hispania, widely referred to in medieval schools of rhetoric and in Renaissance writing. In English translation, he is usually referred to as Quin ...
), ''
Institutio Oratoria'' (Institutes of Oratory).
*
Publius Cornelius Tacitus, ''
Annales'', ''
Historiae''.
*
Plutarch
Plutarch (; , ''Ploútarchos'', ; – 120s) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo (Delphi), Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''Parallel Lives'', ...
us, ''
Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans''.
*
Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, ''
De Vita Caesarum'' (Lives of the Caesars, or The Twelve Caesars).
*
Lucius Annaeus Florus, ''Epitome de T. Livio Bellorum Omnium Annorum DCC'' (Epitome of Livy: All the Wars of Seven Hundred Years).
* Appianus Alexandrinus (
Appian), ''Bellum Civile'' (The Civil War).
*
Aulus Gellius, ''Noctes Atticae'' (Attic Nights).
* Lucius Cassius Dio Cocceianus (
Cassius Dio
Lucius Cassius Dio (), also known as Dio Cassius ( ), was a Roman historian and senator of maternal Greek origin. He published 80 volumes of the history of ancient Rome, beginning with the arrival of Aeneas in Italy. The volumes documented the ...
), ''Roman History''.
*
Joseph Hilarius Eckhel, ''Doctrina Numorum Veterum'' (The Study of Ancient Coins, 1792–1798).
* ''
Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'',
William Smith, ed., Little, Brown and Company, Boston (1849).
*
Theodor Mommsen ''et alii'', ''
Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum'' (The Body of Latin Inscriptions, abbreviated ''CIL''), Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften (1853–present).
* Guido Bastianini,
Lista dei prefetti d'Egitto dal 30a al 299p (List of the Prefects of Egypt from 30 BC to AD 299), in ''
Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik'', vol. 17 (1975).
*
Géza Alföldy, ''Konsulat und Senatorenstand unter der Antonien'' (The Consulate and Senatorial State under the Antonines), Rudolf Habelt, Bonn (1977).
* Paul A. Gallivan
"The Fasti for the Reign of Claudius" in ''
Classical Quarterly'', vol. 28, pp. 407–426 (1978).
* Marie-Thérèse Raepsaet-Charlier, ''Prosopographie des femmes de l'ordre sénatorial: Ier-IIe siècles'' (Prosopography of Women of the Senatorial Order: First and Second Centuries), Peeters, Louvain (1987).
* Jörg Rüpke and Anne Glock, ''Fasti Sacerdotum: A Prosopography of Pagan, Jewish, and Christian Religious Officials in the City of Rome, 300 BC to AD 499'', Oxford University Press (2008).
*
Alison E. Cooley, ''The Cambridge Manual of Latin Epigraphy'', Cambridge University Press (2012).
{{Refend
Roman gentes
de:Wikisource:RE:Antonius 28